Flexible sheet handling mechanisms



1964 c. F. FITZGERALD 3,163,032

FLEXIBLE SHEET HANDLING MECHANISMS Filed July 9, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1fnvamor Ckar'les FFizzgcrald By his Af for-nay Dec. 29, 1964 c. F.FITZGERALD 3,163,032

FLEXIBLE SHEET HANDLING MECHANISMS Filed July 9, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 21366- 1954 c. F. FITZGERALD FLEXIBLE SHEET HANDLING MECHANISMS 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 9, 1963 United States Patent Ofifice 3,163,032Patented Dec. 29, 1964 3,163,032 FLEXBLE SHEET HANDLING MEtZHANISMSCharles F. Fitzgerald, Beverly, Mass, assignor to United Shoe MachineryCorporation, Boston, Mass, a corporation of New Jersey Filed July 9,1963, Ser. No. 293,774 11 Claims. (l. (Zr-4A1) This invention relatesgenerally to machines for working on flexible sheet material such asleather and the like and more particularly to mechanism for handling andconveying flexible pieces as they undergo processing operations. Theinvention has particular application to leather working or shoemakingmachinery and will be hereinafter described with reference to a leathersplitting machine but it is to be understood that the invention may beapplied to flexible Work piece handling machines of all types.

In the past, work pieces emerging from processing machines such asleather splitting and skiving machines or other machines which cut awayall or part of a surface of a flexible sheet-like work piece, have beenallowed to fall to the floor or into containers placed behind andbeneath the splitting or skiving locations. This has been due mainly tothe size and location of the splitting or skiving mechanism (i.e. knifelocation) with respect to the driving mechanism which prevented themounting of any useful conveying mechanism in close proximity.Furthermore, many splitting machines are not suitably constructed evento permit placing a collecting receptacle in a useful position andrequire an extra operator for removing finished work pieces as they passbeyond the knife. Also, in certain types of splitting and skivingmachinery havin manually adjustable feed rolls, rather than permit thework blank to be fed all the way through the machine and fall to thefloor, the operator releases the rolls and pulls the work piece past theknife and out of the machine, commencing before it has been completelysplit and providing the final feeding motion himself. Neither conditionis particularly desirable and the latter is, of course, time consuming,productive of less than optimum results and subjects the operator to thedanger of contact with the knife.

An object of this invention is to provide means for removing flexiblesheet-like work pieces from the more inaccessible and dangerous areas ofsheet processing machinery.

Another object of this invention is to provide a work piece removalsystem that can conduct work pieces away from the operating area of amachine to a location where they can be conveniently stacked orotherwise accumulated.

Feed rolls usually employed with splitter and skivers of theabove-described type generally push the work against the knife and,while they are located in close proximity to the knife, they have atendency, at times, to buckle the Work piece as they push it,particularly when the work piece is initially thin and pliable.

It is, therefore, another object of this invention to provide in aflexible sheet processing machine, such as a leather splitter and thelike, means for feeding the work without buckling it and for conductingthe work piece after it has been processed to a locality where it cansafely be removed.

An obvious expediency would be to provide one or more puller rolls whichcooperate with the pusher rolls. This has been tried, however, withlittle success particularly since power driven puller rolls whichoperate faster than the pusher rolls, while they successfully convey thework piece away from the processing tool, i.e. knife, tend to stretchthe work piece and puller rolls which operate at the same speed, whilethey do not stretch the work,

generally are unable to convey it away from the knife with sufficientspeed or force to locate it where it can conveniently be collected orsafely removed from the machine.

In accordance with these objects and as a feature of the invent-ionthere is provided in a machine for proc essing flexible sheet materialsuch as leather and the like which has an operating tool such as asplitting knife and primary work feeding means such as pusher rolls inadvance of the knife, the improvement which comprises a puller rolllocated closely behind the tool, which puller roll has radially disposedflexible fins and is driven at a peripheral speed slightly in excess ofthe speed of the primary work feeding means. Cooperating with the pull:er roll is a curved flexible plate against which the fins of the pullerroll press the work piece as it passes from the tool. An endless beltconveyor system is provided to conduct the work piece upwardly andrearwardly of the tool location so that it may be conveniently stacked,collected or otherwise removed. Various Work piece deflection means areprovided to assure that the work piece is efliciently located on theconveyor system.

The above and other features of the invention including various noveldetails of construction and combinations of parts will now be moreparticularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings andpointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particularmachine embodying the invention is shown by way of illustration only andnot as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features ofthis invention may be employed in vvaried and numerous embodimentswithout departing from the scope of the invention.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a front elevation as viewed by an operator of a leathersplitting machine embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a left side elevation of portions of the machine shown in FIG.1 partly in section and on enlarged scale with parts broken away forclarity;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the portion of the split: ting machineshown in FIG. 2 and on the same scale; and,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a portion of the machine taken in the directionof the arrow IV on FIG. 2 on the same scale as FIGS. 2 and 3.

The machine will hereinafter be illustrated as embodied in a band knifeleather splitting machine of the type disclosed in United States LettersPatents Nos. 2,645,921, issued July 21, 1953, to A. S. Dumas and1,382,755, issued June 28, 1921 to W. C. Baxter, to which reference maybe had for a more detailed description. Briefly, however, the band knifesplitter includes a main frame 2, an endless band knife 4 having an edge5 and continuously driven by drums or driving Wheels 6 and 8, and aworktable 10. Upper and lower primary feed rolls 12 and 14 (FIG. 2) arerotatably driven about parallel horizontal axes A and A, locatedrespectively, above and below the worktable. It will be noted that thecutting edge 5 of the band knife 4 begins at and extends behind (or tothe left as viewed in PEG. 2) of the line joining the axes A and A ofthe feed rolls. Thus, the rolls are pusher rolls when considered withrespect to the knife 4. Also in close proximity to the feed rolls 12 and14 is a knife holddown plate 16, the upper beveled surface 18 of whichis engaged by and supports work blanks B as they move past the knife.The severed pieces or splits S pass beneath the knife and onto thefloor.

Since the primary feed rolls 12 and 1d are pusher rolls i with respectto the knife 4, even though the knife edge 5 is at or close to the linebetween the axes A and A, there has in the past been a tendency for theflexible work blanks B to buckle slightly due to the frictionalengagement with the surface 18 and the remainder of the blade sneaosa4'. Furthermore, the movement of the work pieces away from the knifedepended entirely upon the inertia imparted to them by the pusher rollswhich meant that there was no assurance that the work pieces would passupwardly of the surface 13 a sufflcient amount to permit their removalby the operator in a safe manner. As stated above, it has been apractice of the operator to release the pressure on the rolls 12 and 14during splitting and complete the operation by pulling the work incooperation with the rolls through the final increment of the cut. Thismeant that the operators hand was in a dangerous location with respectto the knife.

In accordance with one of the features of this invention, an auxiliaryfeed roll 29 is mounted in brackets 21 and 22 on the machine framebehind the rolls 12 and 14 slightly above the sloping surface 18 of theholddown plate 16. Cooperating with the auxiliary roll Ztl or pullerroll as it is also called is a curved flexible or yieldable guide plate23 extending as a continuation of the beveled surface 18 of the knifeholddown plate 16. Positioned above and slightly to the left of theauxiliary feed roll 26 is a flexible work piece deflector plate 24secured by brackets 26 (only one of which is seen) to the brackets 21and 22. The puller roll 24 is driven about an axis A" paralleling theaxes A of the main feed rolls 12 and 14, by an endless chain 28 derivingits power through a double sprocket 3% on a speed reducer 32 which isdriven by an electric motor 34. A second endless chain 36 is also drivenby a sprocket 39 on the speed reducer 32 and supplies power to mechanismhereinafter to be described.

The pulley roll Ed is provided with a plurality of flexible radial fins38 made of rubber or other equivalent material. Each of the fins 38comprises a series of closely spaced separated projecting members 40.The deflector plate 24 includes a plurality of downwardly extendingfingers 42 entering between the individual members 4 of the fins 38.

The shape of the flexible plate 23 closely follows the shape of theperipheral path of the fins 38. While the peripheral pathof the fins 38may be spaced from the flexible guide plate 23 an amount not exceedingthe anticipated thickness of the work piece W after it has been splitfrom the blank B by the knife it may also just touch the flexible plate23. The roll 2% is driven at a peripheral speed which'is slightly inexcess of the peripheral speed of the primary feed rolls 12 and 14.

Cooperating with the auxiliary feed roll 28 and the plates 23 to removethe work piece W from the knife is an endless conveyor system comprisinga flexible belt 50 which passes around an idler roll 52 journaled in thebrackets 21 and 22 behind the auxiliary feed roll 26 and locatedslightly below the deflecting plate 24. The belt 50 is driven in acounterclockwise direction about the roll 52 by a driving roll 54 andpasses upwardly about a roll 56 thence downwardly around rolls 56 and60. The roll 54 is driven'by the chain 36, referred to above, whichderives power from the double sprocket attached to the speed reducer 32Each of the rolls 563, 53 and tl are idler rolls journaled in platemembers 64 and 66 which extend vertically from a rear portion 63 of themain frame of the machine. The roll 54 is also journaled in the plates54 and 66.

A tension applying roller 7Q is journaled between the free ends oflevers '72, 74 fixed to a shaft '76 extending between and through theplates 64, 66. Srpings 7S and 8t) adjustably secured to the plates 64,66, respectively, apply tension to levers 82 and 84 fixed to the outerends of the shaft'76 to force the roller 70 against the belt, urging thebelt to the left as seen in FIG. 2 and thereby tensioning it.

The conveyor system also includes a second endless belt' 86 passingaround the driven roll 54 and a companion roll 88 journaled between theplates 64, 66 below the roll 56. An idler pressure applying roll 90engages the belt urging it, as seen in FIG. 2, against the main conveyorbelt 50. A deflector plate 592 is mounted on brackets 94 (only one ofwhich is seen) adjacent the roll 88. Beneath the deflector plate 92 islocated a removable receptacle 96 supported in a bracket 98 suspendedfrom the plates 64 and 66.

In operation, a work blank B is fed by the operator across the table 10then through the primary feed rolls 12 and 14 which push it against theknife 4. As will be obvious to one skilled in the art, the knife may bea fixed splitting blade of conventional type or a skiving knife whichremoves only part of the surface of a workpiece. As the blank B is splitby the knife 4, the upper portion or workpiece W passes upwardly of theinclined surface 18 of the knife holddown 16 into position where it isengaged by one or more members 40 which form the flns 38 of theauxiliary or puller roll 20. Since the peripheral speed of the fins 38is greater than that of the rolls 12 and 14, it applies a component offorce to the workpiece W as it presses it against the flexible plate 23.

Because the fins 38 are flexible, there will be slippage between themand the surface of the workpiece that they engage when the workpiece isstill within the grip of the primary feed rolls 12 and 14. However,after the workpiece leaves the control of the feed rolls, slippagedecreases as the then split workpiece W is accelerated over the curvedflexible plate 23 in a direction generally upwardly and rearwardly ofthe knife 4. Thus, not only will the entire work blank B be splitwithout buckling but sufl-lcient inertia is imparted to the splitworkpiece W to move it rapidly away from the knife 4. Simultaneously,the lower portion or split S passes beneath the knife and drops eitherto the floor or into a collecting receptacle.

The fingers 42 on the plate prevent a workpiece W from being carriedaround by the fins 38 in a clockwise direction, as seen in FIG. 2,should the workpiece be particularly thin.

As the workpiece W is accelerated by the roll 26 upwardly, theundersurface of the workpiece W may engage the traveling conveyor belt50 where it passes about the idler roll 52, which assists the workpiecein striking the deflector plate 24. It then changes direction and fallsupon the upper surface of the conveyor belt 50. The workpiece is carriedby the conveyor belt 56 around the driving roll 54 whereupon its uppersurface is engaged by the second conveyor belt 86.

The belts 50 and 86 being urged together by the cooperative actions ofthe rolls 54, 9t and 88 lift the split workpiece W between them until itpasses around the roll 88 in a clockwise direction, as seen in FIG 2,and passes from between the belts 50 and 86 falling onto the upperdeflector plate 92 and thence into the receptacle 96.

It will be understood that although one configuration of conveyor beltshas herein been illustrated it is by way of example only and numerousvariations in details of construction and combinations and arrangementsof parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for processing flexible sheet material such as leatherand the like which has an operating tool and primary work feeding meanslocated in advance of the tool, the improvement comprising a puller rolllocated closely behind said tool and having radially disposed flexiblefins which are engageable with a workpiece as it leaves the tool, andmeans for rotating the roll with the peripheral speed of the flnsslightly in excess of the speed of the primary work feeding means.

2. In a machine for processing flexible sheet material such as leatherand the like which has an operating tool and primary work feeding meanslocated in advance of the tool, the improvement comprising a puller rolllo cated closely behind said tool and having radially disposed flexiblefins which are engageable with a workpiece as it leaves the tool, meansfor rotating the roll with the peripheral speed of the fins slightly inexcess of the speed of the primary work feeding means, and conveyormeans adjacent the puller roll to conduct the workpiece away from theroll and the tool.

3. In a machine for processing flexible sheet material such as leatherand the like which has an operating tool and primary work feeding meanslocated in advance of the tool, ,the improvement comprising a pullerroll located closely behind said tool and having radially disposedflexible fins which are engageable with one surface of a workpiece as itleaves the tool, a curved flexible plate mounted adjacent a portion ofthe peripheral path of the fins and engageable with the opposite surfaceof the workpiece, and means for rotating the roll with the peripheralspeed of the fins slightly in excess of the speed of the primary feedmeans whereby the puller roll and flexible plate cooperate with theprimary feed means to pull and conduct the workpiece past and away fromthe operating tool.

4. In a machine for processing flexible sheet material such as leatherand the like which has an operating tool and primary work feeding meanslocated in advance of the tool, the improvement comprising a puller rolllocated closely behind said tool and having radially disposed flexiblefins which are engageable with one surface of a workpiece as it leavesthe tool, a flexible plate engageable with the opposite surface of theworkpiece, said plate being mounted adjacent the tool and shaped toconform closely to the circumferential path of said fins, means forrotating the roll with the peripheral speed of the fins slightly inexcess of the speed of the primary feed means whereby the puller rolland flexible plate cooperate with the primary feed means to pull andguide the workpiece past and away from the operating tool, an idler rolllocated adjacent the flexible plate, and an endless belt passing aboutsaid idler roll whereby the belt is engageable with the workpiece as itemerges from between the puller roll and the flexible plate to cooperatetherewith in guiding the workpiece away from the tool.

5. In a machine for processing flexible sheet material such as leatherand the like which has an operating tool and primary work feeding meanslocated in advance of the tool, the improvement comprising a puller rolllocated closely behind said tool and having radially disposed flexiblefins engageable with one surface of a work piece as it leaves the tool,a flexible plate engageable with the opposite surface of the work piece,said plate being mounted adjacent the tool and shaped to conform closelyto the circumferential path of said fins, means for rotating the rollwith the peripheral speed of the fins slightly in excess of the speed ofthe primary feed means whereby the puller roll and flexible platecooperate with the primary feed means to pull and guide the work piecepast and away from the operating tool, an idler roll located adjacentthe flexible plate, an endless conveyor belt passing about said idlerroll whereby the belt is engageable with the work piece as it emergesfrom between the puller roll and the flexible plate to cooperatetherewith in guiding the work piece, and a deflector plate above theidler roll and the flexible plate to deflect the work piece onto theconveyor belt after it has emerged from between the puller roll and theflexible plate.

6. In a machine for processing flexible sheet material such as leatherand the like which has an operating tool and primary work feeding meanslocated in advance of the tool, the improvement comprising a puller rolllocated closely behind said tool and having radially disposed flexiblefins engageable with one surface of a work piece as it leaves the tool,and a flexible plate engageable with the opposite surface of the workpiece, said plate being mounted adjacent the puller roll and shaped toconform 6 v closely to the circumferential path of said fins, means forrotating the roll with the peripheral speed of the fins slightly inexcess of the speed of the primary feed means whereby the puller rolland flexible plate cooperate with the primary work feeding means to pulland guide the work piece past and away from the operating tool, a beltconveyor system mounted adjacent the flexible plate and leading awayfrom said tool, and means for directing the movement of the belt of theconveyor system in an upward path with respect to the machine to carrythe work piece to a location where it may be collected and removed.

7. In a leather working machine which cuts away part or all of a surfaceof a flexible sheet-like work piece, a cutting knife which operates in arelatively fixed location, primary feed rolls engageable with oppositesurfaces of the work piece and located in advance of the knife to pushthe work there against, a puller roll located closely behind the knifeand having radially disposed flexible fins engageable with one surfaceof the work piece as it leaves the knife, means for rotating the rollwith the peripheral speed of the fins slightly in excess of that of theprimary feed rolls, and conveyor means adjacent the puller roll toconduct the work piece away from the knife operating location.

8. In a leather working machine which cuts away part or all of a surfaceof a flexible sheet-like work piece, a cutting knife which operates in arelatively fixed location, primary feed rolls engageable with oppositesurfaces of the work piece and located in advance of the knife to pushthe work there against, a puller roll located closely behind the knifeand having radially disposed flexible fins engageable with one surfaceof the work piece as it leaves the knife, a curved flexible platemounted adjacent a portion of the peripheral path of the fins andengageable with the opposite surface of the work piece whereby thepuller roll and flexible plate cooperate with the primary feed rolls topull the work piece past and away from the knife and conduct it awaytherefrom.

9. In a leather working machine which cuts away part or all of a surfaceof a flexible sheet-like work piece, a cutting knife which operates in arelatively fixed location, primary feed rolls engageable with oppositesurfaces of the work piece and located in advance of the knife to pushthe work there against, a puller roll located closely behind the knifeand having radially disposed flexible fins engageable with one surfaceof the work piece as it leaves the knife, a curved flexible platemounted adjacent a portion of the peripheral path of the fins andengageable with the opposite surface of the work piece, an idler rolllocated adjacent the flexible plate, and an endless belt passing aboutsaid idler roll whereby the belt is engageable with the work piece as itemerges from between the puller roll and the flexible plate to cooperatetherewith in guiding the work piece away from the knife.

10. In a leather working machine which cuts away part or all of asurface of a flexible sheet-like work piece, a cutting knife whichoperates in a relatively fixed location, primary feed rolls engageablewith opposite surfaces of the work piece and located in advance of theknife to push the work there against, a puller roll located closelybehind the knife and having radially disposed flexible fins engageablewith one surface of the work piece as it leaves the knife, a curvedflexible plate mounted adjacent a portion of the peripheral path of thefins and engageable with the opposite surface of the work piece, anidler roll located adjacent the flexible plate, an endless belt passingabout said idler roll whereby the belt is engageable with the work pieceas it emerges from between the puller roll and the flexible plate tocooperate therewith in guiding the work piece away from the knife, and adeflector plate located above the idler roll and the flexible plate todeflect the work piece onto the conveyor belt after it has emerged fromthe puller roll and the flexible plate.

11. In a leather working machine which cuts away part or all of asurface of a flexible sheet-like work piece, a

cutting knife which operates in a relatively fixed location, primaryfeed rolls engageable with opposite surfaces of the work piece andlocated in advance of the knife to push the work there against, a pullerroll located closely behind the knife and having radially disposedflexible fins engageable with one surface of the work piece as it leavesthe knife, a curved flexible plate mounted adjacent a portion of theperipheral path of the fins and engageable with the opposite surface ofthe work piece, a belt conveyor system mounted adjacent the flexibleplate and leading away from the knife comprising an idler roll locatedadjacent the flexible plate, an endless belt passing about said idlerroll whereby the belt is engageable with the work piece as it emergesfrom between the puller roll and the flexible plate to cooperatetherewith in guiding the work piece away from the knife, and means fordirecting the movement of the endless belt in an upward path withrespect to the knife operating location to carry the work piece to alocation where it may be conveniently and safely collected and removed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS479,461 Randall July 26, 1892 1,140,392. Novick May 25, 1915 1,920,842Cogswell Aug. 1, 1933 l 2,281,77l Johnston May 5, 1942 2,571,269Maciejowski et a1 Oct. 16, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,097 Great Britain of1913

1. IN A MACHINE FOR PROCESSING FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIAL SUCH AS LEATHER AND THE LIKE WHICH HAS AN OPERATING TOOL AND PRIMARY WORK FEEDING MEANS LOCATED IN ADVANCE OF THE TOOL, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A PULLER ROLL LOCATED CLOSELY BEHIND SAID TOOL AND HAVING RADIALLY DISPOSED FLEXIBLE FINS WHICH ARE ENGAGEABLE WITH A WORKPIECE AS IT LEAVES THE TOOL, AND MEANS FOR ROTATING THE ROLL WITH THE PERIPHERAL SPEED OF THE FINS SLIGHTLY IN EXCESS OF THE SPEED OF THE PRIMARY WORK FEEDING MEANS. 